Public Statements

Remarks by the President to the Traveling Press at Café Beauregard

THE PRESIDENT: I'll have a chance to talk to everybody a little bit later, but obviously part of the reason that we're here is because we've got a group of outstanding Democratic governors here in the Northwest [sic] that are committed to making sure that work pays.

And we were just talking to the owners of this establishment, who pay their employees more than the minimum wage because, as the owner put it, he knows what's it like to work all his life and understands that if people are working hard, they shouldn't be in poverty and that we should be able to do everything we can to make sure that happens.

And Dan Malloy here in Connecticut is making this a top priority. I know Pete Shumlin, Lincoln Chafee, and Deval Patrick are all -- are working with Tom Perez, our Secretary of Labor. And this is an important tool for us to help create more pathways into the middle class and make sure that if you work hard in this country, you can succeed.

There are other tools that are reflected in my budget like the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion that we've proposed that will also make a difference. But I'm just very proud of these governors for the work they're doing. So thank you.